Detachment of the retinal pigment epithelium is characteristic of a variety of chorio-retinal diseases including age related macular degeneration (see for example Zayit-Soudry et al. “Retinal pigment epithelial detachment” Surv Ophthalmol 52(3): 227-243 2007). Various types of pigment epithelial detachments (PEDs) have been identified including serous, fibrovascular, and drusenoid among others (see for example Hartnett et al. “Classification of retinal pigment epithelial detachments associated with drusen”, Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 1992; 230(1):11-90. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has provided a way to visualize, segment and classify PEDs. Previous work has categorized PEDs and drusen manually (see for example Lumbroso et al. “Morphologic Differences, According To Etiology, in Pigment Epithelial Detachments By Means of En Face Optical Coherence Tomography”, Retina 31 (3): 553-558 2011, Hartnett et al. “Classification of retinal pigment epithelial detachments associated with drusen”, Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 1992; 230(1):11-9, Khanifar et al. “Drusen ultrastructure imaging with spectral domain optical coherence tomography in age-related macular degeneration”, Ophthalmology. 2008 November; 115(11):1883-90), but this is a time consuming process requiring expert clinical input. A system and method capable of automatically segmenting and classifying PEDs would be highly desirable.
A segmentation map of RPE Elevations may provide too many drusen to be easily examined by individual B-scan inspection. An automated screening strategy, however, can give a quick assessment of the internal and surface characteristics of RPE elevations and nearby structures, which may provide a risk assessment for the development of advanced complications such as manifest fibrovascular infiltration or cellular atrophy among others.